July 19, 2013

U.S. Tech Companies Request Data on NSA Surveillance

Apple Inc., Facebook Inc., Google Inc., Microsoft Corp., Yahoo! Inc.,
and more than a dozen other tech companies have joined forces with civil
liberties groups and investment firms in a push to uncloak U.S.
government surveillance efforts, following leaks last month about
National Security Agency data gathering.

In a letter [PDF]
sent Thursday to President Barack Obama and other U.S. officials, the
64-member coalition wrote that the government should permit Internet,
telephone, and web-based service providers to publicly report statistics
about national security-related requests. The alliance, organized by
the Washington-based nonprofit Center for Democracy & Technology,
said details about the extent to which the government deploys its
national security powers is important to U.S. citizens and international
users of U.S.-based digital service providers as they try to assess the
utilization of online surveillance.

"Just as the United States has long been an innovator when it comes to
the Internet and products and services that rely upon the Internet, so
too should it be an innovator when it comes to creating mechanisms to
ensure that government is transparent, accountable, and respectful of
civil liberties and human rights," the coalition wrote. "We look forward
to working with you to set a standard for transparency reporting that
can serve as a positive example for governments across the globe."